Essentra Components, the leading global industrial components manufacturer, has recently announced that it is constantly and consistently achieving a 50/50 balance of virgin and post-consumer recycled plastics within its Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) product range. This is not only an extraordinary achievement for the company, but also for the entire plastics industry.
Now, all of Essentra’s LDPE products leaving the facility at Kidlington in Oxford will consist of 50% recycled content. Moreover, as part of its commitment to reduce carbon emissions, Essentra Components has also experimented with higher percentages, and as the sourcing of recycled material continues to improve, will introduce them into its production lines in due course.
“Reaching a 50/50 ratio is an incredible achievement not only for our team but for the wider plastics industry,” said Richard Sederman, Strategy and M&A Director at Essentra Components, who believes this milestone demonstrates a clear proof of concept for sustainable manufacturing.
“We’ve demonstrated that the reliance on virgin plastics as a primary component is now an outdated concept. Provided the wider supply chain can maintain consistent supply of high performing recycled content plastic recyclate, we can continue innovating and increasing these ratios, in turn improving the carbon footprint of both our manufacturing processes and that of our customers,” he continued.
The milestone represents a crucial step in making industrial plastics more environmentally sustainable by reducing the amount of virgin resin needed to produce products. By hitting the milestone, Essentra Components has demonstrated the viability of recycled plastics within high performance component parts.
On top of that, Essentra Components is working towards another goal, the reduction in use of virgin materials. For that to happen, the company has already started researching other areas in which it can utilise recycled materials, including recycled nylon for its fastener ranges.
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